A Boost for Food Security

Fri, May 31, 2013

By publisher

2 MIN READ

African Development Bank agrees to assist the Gambia develop its agriculture and boost food security

|  By Maureen Chigbo, Marrakesh, Morocco  |  Jun. 10, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

THE African Development Bank, AfDB, is to assist The Gambia to develop its agriculture. On May 28, the AfDB and the Gambia, signed a $26.6 million protocol in Marrakech, Morocco, to boost agricultural production and food security in the country.

Abdou Kolley, The Gambia’s finance and economic affairs minister, who signed the protocol, expressed his country’s gratitude for the Bank’s development activities in his country, in particular, its efforts to reduce poverty and make the private sector one of the country’s engines of growth. “With a focus on rural household, these funds will contribute to the achievement of The Gambia’s key development objectives of reducing poverty by improving food security, increasing and diversifying food production, as well as raising the income of the rural producers,” the minister said.

Aly Abou-Sabaa, African Development Bank vice-president, sector operations, said the project symbolises a milestone in the collaboration between the government and the AfDB. “More importantly, through this project, The Gambia and the AfDB will assist vulnerable groups living in poverty and confronted by climate change,” he said.

Abou-Sabaa also highlighted the Bank’s agriculture strategy, which focuses on support and development of agro-industry as a platform to ensure food security, create jobs, increase incomes, diversify the product consumption base in regional member countries. He said: “the bank is happy to support this project’s focused on improving food security, diversifying income opportunities, and improving individual livelihoods in your country.”  The project is an initiative funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, GAFSP, to reduce rural household poverty.